Investing in people and communities

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Dear members and friends of ESN,

In this annual review we look back at our work in 2013, a year that continued to challenge us to find solutions for rising social needs with declining budgets. We welcomed the launch of the Social Investment Package by the European Commission, which reiterated the role of social services in empowering people “to live up to their full potential to take part in social and economic life.” The way I see it, social services constitute a significant investment in people and local communities and we should all see ourselves as social investors.

Together with our members, we looked at how to enable choice and control for people with disabilities during our spring seminar in Helsinki, and at the challenges and opportunities in ageing and care during an autumn workshop in Brighton. We also launched a policy and research initiative to contribute to the implementation of the EU’s ‘Investing in Children’ Recommendation.

During the year I had the honour of becoming co-chair of the European Expert Group on the Transition from Institutional to Community-based Care which enabled ESN to deepen its work on developing community care. The year concluded with a successful Members’ Forum in Brussels where we reviewed our achievements in the past three years, and identified priorities for 2014-2017 within the renewed contract with the European Commission. We look forward to working with you over the next period.

Best wishes,

John Halloran
Chief Executive